
Indian Independence movementIndian independence as one comprehends in present times, has rather gone towards much shallow an establishment, with 15th August merely reduced to ceremonial rituals. The huge mass in India that is named today as `middle class`, is governed much by international rules and laws, including globalisation. Much narrower a section of society comprise the Indian defence forces, represented by Indian Army, Indian Air Forces and Indian Navy. Indeed, they are real men who day and night pay heed and fortify Indian lives from external incursions and sudden attacks. Otherwise, the present Indian society is largely hazy and cloudy about the umpteen Independence movements that India had raged to become what it is now. Indian independence movements pertain to those contrived crusades that were popularised against the oppressing British dominion, both by employing non-violent and violent measures. This dichotomous issue was in fact a substantial issue, due to diverging paths of many nationalists espoused to reach one common goal of purna swaraj (absolute freedom).
As British Indian history lays down to its readers about the incredible freedom movement in pre-independence scenario, it is first necessary to comprehend the common society of those times. Indian society, as compared to contemporary times, was much simpler and less uncomplicated. The conscious class division was unheard of, with almost no technological tool witnessed in any household. People were just happy with a decent job, daily bread, unpolished clothes and lastly, a mere house to live in. Shunning away from any kind of lavishness, every native was motivated and aimed towards that future, which they felt no longer as an unachievable dream. Freedom fighters as such arrived onto such a hot-bed Indian state of affairs, just to help people not to be influenced and charmed by British petty alluring of fineries and everything Vilayati (referring to British goods and Britain as a whole). This surging mass of protest marches led to the culmination of the Swadeshi Movement in early 1900s, under able leadership of Mahatma Gandhi.
Swadeshi Movement was largely a successful ensuing of the Partition of Bengal in 1905 and the amount of loss of lives under the sadistic Britishers.

One significant factor that is noteworthy in the context of Indian independence movements is that, these crusades had intensified much more in the late 1930s and its succeeding period, culminating in the year 1947. Instances prior to this time period are however not the least infrequent, with every decade producing and emoting a naturalistic note of their own. For instance, the
Wahabi Movement during the extensive period of late 1800s, was a slow mass accumulation of men from various Indian states, leading only to deportation in the Andamans, more effectively to Kala Pani. Then again, the Ghadr Movement during the initial years of 1900s was also akin to Wahabi, with rebels gathering from outside the country like Canada or United States. These independence movements planned in erstwhile Indian context strikes a touching and distressing chord in the heart, when it is gathered that men fighting during those times were perhaps not even aware that these would take such historic proportions as to reach every Indian household; times during those did not call for publicised affairs, but just the realisation of Indian Independence. However, with men like Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi or Subhash Chandra Bose, Rabindranath Tagore or Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, India was never in dearth of legendary crusaders, standing valiantly against English oppression.
With the British cruel arm crushing down on natives in a more intensifying degree with the aid of acts or laws, these Indian independence movements went on streets even more and more. For example, the
Khilafat Movement was awakened largely after the stringency of Rowlatt Act of 1919, absolutely mirroring Muslims sentiments as opposed to British way of life. Indeed, it came to be a mere order of day and a topic of snigger that after each passing of law, an independence movement was sure to come up and gain accomplishment. Lord Curzon and Lord Dalhousie in later years were almost wholly to blame for foolish administration and inviting the wrath directly from England Crown. The Akali Movement around 1919 had tremendously ushered in the Sikh community into Indian freedom struggle, with stray communal incidents happening here and there. Sikhs became such a headache to British rule, that hanging and deportation was the last feasible way out for these ruthless overseas men. By such horrible mixing of British acts and anti-British Indian independence movements, the time was sneaking towards the 1930s, which was the most personified time for protests, rallies and demonstration of both violence and non-violence.

Courts and other administrative buildings, like police outposts, including railways carriages or public transports began to be looted and bombed, only to exhibit the valiancy of fighting nationalists; they believed only in the one policy of giving back an eye for an eye. However, these radical ways were condemned by the non-violent protestors, who were of the faith that swaraj could also be attained by not shedding any drop of English blood. Gandhiji was considered the leader of all non-violence that ever came up during those times. He was known to pacify British rank-holders by his gifted vocabulary and gift of gab. As such, the
Civil Disobedience Movement or admired as Salt Satyagraha March to Dandi, was deemed as a serious threat to establishing British supremacy in India. Indian independence movements under the towering Gandhian Era was ushered in by Non Co-operation Movement within 1920-22, signifying every degree of total denying of every British rule of law that was passed under the Rowlatt Act revisions. These one-at-a-time non-violent acts turned into a volley of protests, encompassing fasting for several days by Gandhiji, leading British administration to review and bend their direction of governance. The Mahatma in fact, side by side the out-and-out violence of the young guns of India, continued his passive protests by topping his rebellion with the
Quit India Movement in 1942. Mahatma Gandhi`s hope to bring in immediate independence to India by just holding talks was somewhat crushed, with the disillusioned men being put under house arrest for the rest of the freedom struggle.
In a nutshell, Indian independence movements were incredulously successful to awake the unaware men at large, with every household housing a revolutionist secretly. British men, at last, could only look towards the future helplessly, with all of their endeavours grovelling in the dust.
(Last Updated on : 16/08/2010)